Contemporary British Literature Research Articles

Amphibious Magical Realism? The Shape of Water as Cinematic Trauma Narrative

Amphibious Magical Realism? <i>The Shape of Water</i> as Cinematic Trauma Narrative

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR THE SYLLABUS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE COURSE IN ELT DEPARTMENTS

Using literature in language teaching as authentic material has many advantages such as developing learners’ intercultural competence, personal involvement, proficiency in the target language, creativity, critical, and analytical thinking, interpreting, speaking and communication skills. Correspondingly, the purposes of this study are to explore how many state universities have the syllabus for English Literature courses on their official websites and to find out the most preferred topics of English Literature courses in ELT programs. As a part of the qualitative data collection, online curriculums of 59 state universities were explored to find the most preferred topics of these courses. Based on the findings of the study, out of 59 universities, only 37 universities’ online syllabi of “English Literature Course I and II” were available. Also, common topics in English Literature courses’ syllabi of 37 universities were listed. Medieval English Literature - The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer, Old English Period - Beowulf, and Elizabethan Era - Shakespeare were among the most preferred topics, while Middle Age period: historic, social, literary events, Contemporary English Literature, 20th-century literature were the least preferred ones. In the conclusion part of the study, some suggestions were presented for syllabi of English Literature courses in ELT departments of universities.

Reading Reluctance: An Analysis of Mistrust between Adherents of Fundamentalism and Liberalism with a Focus on Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; This paper highlights the variant aspects of what we may call the reluctance of fundamentalism and liberalism in post-postcolonial contemporary Pakistani literature in English, analyzing comparatively both exclusive and inclusive elements of its extensive canvas. This research project began with curiosity regarding an element of reluctance between two characters of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. The two main characters of the novel, Changez and an unnamed American visitor represent allegiances to two different schools of thought: Changez to fundamentalism and the American to liberalism. They have nothing in common except reluctance, a reluctance that does not allow them to trust each other and that is what plays a key role in the absence of any positive expectations from the other. This study seeks an answer to the questions: What are largely the causes that separate human beings? Why can’t we, human beings, trust one another? Why don’t we give everyone the basic right of leading his/her life according to their own deliberate choices? It’s a project of its own novel kind and the deductive method is used for this qualitative- cum-analytical research to review Hamid’s novel. The findings of the research conclude the role of social misrepresentations to be the main cause of mistrust between the followers of two schools of thought.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Elements of Historiographic Metadrama in Liz Lochhead’s Plays: Blood and Ice and Mary Queen of Scots got her Head Chopped off

The most prominent concerns of contemporary British literature have been reserved for the revision of tradition and history and contestation of metanarratives through historiographic metafiction and historiographic metadrama. Liz Lochhead’s works are abundant in elements of historiographic metadrama which Lochhead uses to rewrite (hi)stories from a different angle, especially (hi)stories involving famous women and their position in the society, as is the case with Blood and Ice and Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off. Blood and Ice focus on Mary Shelley’s process of writing her novel Frankenstein while Mary Queen of Scots got her Head Chopped Off presents Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I in the light of their strained relations. Pertaining to Blood and Ice, the aim of this paper is to discuss the position of MaryShelley as a woman artist surrounded by Romanticists such as P.B. Shelley and Lord Byron and their liberal humanist ideology which shows great indebtedness to the patriarchal metanarrative. With regards to Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, the paper examines MaryStuart and Elizabeth I’s roles as women and monarchs, masculinity-femininity dichotomy surrounding the queens, the problematics of their historical representation, as well as the danger of their mythologization. The analysis of the elements of historiographic metadrama in the two plays shows that they are examples of ‘herstories’ that dismantle male-centered narratives as imposed rather than natural.

Violence in Vijay Tendulkar’s The Vulture: An Existential Phenomenon

In this paper a focus would be made to track the details of Contemporary World Literature in English as a whole with an inclination towards the theme of violence in Vijay Tendulkar’s The Vulture in particular. The Contemporary World Literature provides an insight into social, moral and political aspects of human culture which is why one can identify oneself with the rest of the human populace. In a way, the theme of violence acts as a stimulus in this direction. The world literature has contained ‘violence’ in terms of conflicts in all social levels, whether it is with oneself, between family members, between communities or between nations, since ages. Any such kind of conflict arises from negative emotions in an individual such as fear, distress and sorrow. As a result, the individual is likely to feel forsaken and helpless and may turn to the literature world in order to understand his/her own experiences and the similar experiences of others. This paper offers examples from the past, running through the Middle Ages and extending to the present time. Moreover, there is an explanation of how violence in the antiquity is different from the violence in the existing period. An existential approach is made while defining the same: which is a 20th century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of human existence struggling through making choices between destiny and free will. Beside this, a segment has been included that deals with the prevalence and type of violence found in Indian Writings in English highlighting patriarchal and communal issues.

INTERNATIONALIZATION AS A STRATEGIC DIMENSION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

The paper is devoted to the analyses of specific features of internationalization of academic research institutions, first of all at National Academy of Educational Sciences (NAES) of Ukraine. We conducted a brief observation of contemporary English language literature in the area of internationalization of academic institutions and evaluation of its effectiveness. We tried to analyze the situation with internationalization at academic institutions in situation of limited financial support and restrictions, connected with pandemic situation with COVID-19. Special stress was made on elaboration and implementation of successful strategy of internationalization with realistic, accurate and measurable dimensions of internationalization. Using as an example the Strategy of Internationalization of NAES of Ukraine, which was approved by the Presidium of NAES of Ukraine on March, 18, 2021, we observed the main dimensions of internationalization with the relevant indicators, which could be implemented in other academic institutions in Ukraine. Also, we compare some of these indicators with the indicators of internationalization at leading international university rankings (QS and THE).

Non-Operative Management of Appendicitis: Evolution, not Revolution.

Background: The medical fascination with the appendix vermiformis dates from the clandestine prosectors of the fifteenth century. The surgical management of appendiceal inflammation dates from 1735, but acceptance that acute appendicitis (AA) should be treated primarily by resection with or without drainage would not follow for 150 years. Recent publication of several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of non-operative management (NOM) of AA affords the opportunity to review the historical record, describe the evolution of AA management toward NOM, and assess what is in the best interest of the patient. Methods: Review and synthesis of historical and contemporary English, French, German, and Italian literature with expert opinion. Results: Modern understanding of AA dates to the landmark 1886 clinico-pathologic correlative study by Reginald Fitz, which coined the term appendicitis and coincided with recognition by surgeons that AA could be diagnosed pre-operatively and managed surgically, with mortality rates of approximately 10%. Not until 1901 did Albert Ochsner advocate NOM, paradoxically for severe cases unlikely to survive operation. Markedly decreased mortality coincided with the introduction of sulfanilamide in 1935 and penicillin and curare in 1942. The first large series of patients with AA treated primarily with NOM was published in 1956 by Eric Coldrey. Modern management evolved rapidly in the late twentieth century, including effective anti-anaerobic antibiotic agents (1970s), laparoscopic appendectomy (LA; 1980), and pelvis computed tomography with rectal contrast (1998) all representing important contributions. Randomized controlled trials of NOM of AA date to 1995, with one large trial (2015) showing that open appendectomy was not non-inferior to NOM, and another (2020) demonstrating non-inferiority between (mostly) LA and NOM. However, one-year failure rates are high (∼30%) and appear to increase further with longer follow-up. Conclusions: Laparoscopic appendectomy is curative and cost-effective management for AA, with low morbidity. Results of recent RCTs of NOM of AA indicate that LA remains the treatment of choice, particularly if a fecalith is present. However, patient preferences must be taken into account; some may prefer NOM for the 60%-70% chance that surgery may be avoided, which should be considered when providing informed consent. Non-operative management should be undertaken in the outpatient setting if possible. Antibiotic management-whether or not for NOM-should adhere to the principles of stewardship.

New Books in English on Chinese Corporeality

The modern development of China is of great interest to researchers from all over the world. Every year a great number of different monographs on different aspects of this country's history, economy, politics and culture appear. In this analysis of contemporary literature in English we decided to choose several monographs devoted to the issues of corporeality in China. The 20th century proved to be, in a great extent, a decisive period for the development of China. During this period many events took place, but most importantly, China was transformed into something new, becoming a highly developed modern power. These changes also affected the issues of corporeality. A significant role in this was played not only by radical changes in Chinese society, but also by contacts with Western culture and, above all, medicine. In this connection we offer our readers several publications that can be conventionally united by one problem: the transformation of the fundamentals of life. The first monograph by the American anthropologist E. Zhang analyzes the transformation of Chinese attitudes toward male health. Both the Maoist and post-Maoist periods are taken into account. But most importantly, Zhang shows how the changing economic and political model of society is also reflected in Chinese men's attitudes to their health, personal desires and needs.&#x0D; Another monograph discussed in this review is that of American researcher T. Nakajima, devoted to the creation of a modern system of sanitation and hygiene in Shanghai during the Republican period. In this monograph the author shows how the Chinese approach to the public health system was transformed under the influence of external and internal conditions.

THE SHORT STORY CYCLE IN CONTEMPORARY BRITISH LITERATURE (BASED ON THE SHORT STORIES BY J. MCGREGOR)

The article is devoted to the poetics of the short story cycle - a genre of short narrative fiction, where classical traditions and experimental narrative techniques are used to explicate topical issues of contemporary British literature. Beside the fact that the stories are relatively short, they are characterized by semantic compression, gaps in meaning, “internal” psychological plot, intensity, expressive imagery, lyricism, implications. The consistency of the short story cycle is created by thematic complementarity, coherence of style and composition. The short story cycle by J. McGregor ‘That Isn’t the Sort of Thing that Happens to Someone like You’ is devoted to everyday life of English Fenland inhabitants and can be attributed to the ‘narrative of community’ genre, traditional for British literature. McGregor’s short story cycle embodies almost all modern tendencies of the genre: a wide palette of themes within the framework of topical issues; vivid psychological portraits and images; variety of narrative types and forms; suggestiveness, implications, specific usage of pronouns, stylistic devices of contrast and repetition.

CosmopolitanismsNegative Cosmopolitanism: Culture and Politics of World Citizenship after Globalization

CosmopolitanismsNegative Cosmopolitanism: Culture and Politics of World Citizenship after Globalization

“Woe unto us”: divine wrath and godly sorrow in an English plague sermon (1637)

ABSTRACT The historiography of early modern plague assumes that early modern emotions mirrored the volatile fearfulness dramatised in contemporary English plague literature, and that there was no comfort to be found in its reformative message. Meanwhile, historians have struggled to explain the resilience of English communities through frequent epidemics. Using the case study of a 1637–8 epidemic in Kingston upon Hull, where the preacher Andrew Marvell (c. 1584–1641) was broken from quarantine to return to his pulpit, this article contests that the persistence of sermons in plague provided a vital point of pastoral continuity, as well as a tool for emotional resilience. A close reading of Marvell’s surviving manuscript plague sermon, delivered at the funeral of a plague victim, will demonstrate how narratives of divine wrath and godly sorrow, embedded within early modern print culture, could offer emotional direction and succour in practice.

Review of the Book “Cultural Hybridization in the Contemporary Novel” By Diana-Eugenia Panait-Ioncică

Abstract The book “Cultural Hybridization in the Contemporary Novel” attempts a bold feat: to present, out of a diversity of works in contemporary English language literature, some books that are truly valuable for the reader. It invites us to ponder on some of the hottest topics the world is currently facing, including the mixture of cultures, migration and its consequences on today’s culture and literature, the longing for home and its spiritual meaning.

Reception of J. Austen’s creativity in Contemporary British Literature (Novel by Joe Baker “Longbourne”)

The experience of reception of creativity of J. Austen (1775—1817) in modern British literature is analyzed. The aim of the work was to identify the main directions and ideological and artistic functions of the deconstruction of pretext — the novel by J. Austen “Pride and Prejudice” (1813) — in the novel by Joe Baker (born in 1973) “Longbourne” (2013). It was revealed that the social, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, anti-war, feminist components are the most significant in the deconstruction of pretext. For Baker, the main modes of rethinking the novel by J. Austen “Pride and Prejudice” become relevant in the modern social and cultural situation of revising the past and assessing the present in Britain, the problems of social contradictions, imperialism, colonialism and its consequences, the rights of women and minorities. It was concluded that in his artistic quest, Baker, although using the novel of the Regency era as a pretext, is moving closer to the neo-Victorian novel. It has been substantiated that it is advisable to clarify the definition of the “neo-Victorian novel of the younger generation” (the term by Y. S. Skorokhodko), designating works written in the pre-Victorian era, in particular, in the era of the Regency, as possible plot-forming pretexts, or to single out a new genre variety of British historiographic metanovel (L. Hutchen) — a Neo-Pre-Victorian novel.

A Study on Never Let Me Go from the Perspective of Ethical Criticism

Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in literature, is one of the most famous novelists in contemporary British literature. In his novel Never Let Me Go, the author constructs a post-human society, that is, a world of human cloning that transplant organs for human. This paper mainly explores the details of life in the post-human’s tragic fate, and reveals the ethical dilemma faced by the post-human, and triggers readers to think about the ethical fetters between human and post-human.

Two Poems

66 WLT SUMMER 2021 a POETRY Two Poems by Ahlam Bsharat My Sixteen-Year-Old Mother What is my eightysomething mother doing under these conditions? She watches the situation behind the glass Once the rain stops, she goes out in her plastic slippers with her shawl around her shoulders and her dress belted at the waist like a sixteen-year-old chasing the rain the leaves and plastic bags filled with air that the wind will burst her ten blue fingers making a beautiful dance in the drizzle What is my ninetysomething father doing under these conditions? He is under the covers wondering: What is the use of getting out of bed in these conditions if I cannot be a young man in his twenties? if I don’t sweep the water away from the well and let it pass through the crevices to water the wounds and the thirsty plants? What can I do under these conditions? I forge a word to hammer into the ground of my loneliness so the winds don’t blow away the tent of life above my head and I think of my sixteen-year-old mother who is still playing outside, I call out to her: Come back home, daughter and I think of my twentysomething father who tarries to tend his wounds so I embrace him: stitch what wounds you can lest blood flow from your palms You are still young life lies before you. And I think of you: What are you doing under these conditions? You will calmly answer in a tone that disturbs one’s sleep: Nothing. I am doing nothing. Photo Studio I fear new places unfamiliar streets a new spoon strangers first seeing the entire scene or part of it crossing to the café So I turn the other way and firmly lock the door Feels like I know the smith whose hand twisted the metal like a piece of cloth giving a slight disturbance in its width I fear the words I fling making me more like a soldier a sharpshooter at the breast of loneliness at the eye of ugliness around the head of love and at insects on flowers In the wide abyss into which I stretch my hand to touch yours More than anything, I fear for you so I close my eyes on your image lest you escape from the photo studio of my imagination Translations from the Arabic By Omnia Amin Ahlam Bsharat is a Palestinian novelist, poet, children’s author, and teacher of creative writing. She is a prominent and highly regarded author in the Arab world and internationally. Her books have been included in IBBY lists, shortlisted for the Palestine Book Award (UK), and finalists for the Etisalat Award for Children’s Literature (UAE). Omnia Amin earned her PhD in modern and contemporary English literature from Queen Mary University of London. She is an author, translator, and professor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Zayed University in Dubai, UAE. MOTAZ AZAIZA / COURTESY OF THE ARTIST ...

OBRASCI GRAĐENjA KNjIŽEVNIH (ANTI)JUNAKA U PROZI VILIJAMA TREVORA NA PRIMERU ROMANA „FELISIJINO PUTOVANjE“

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the patterns of building literary (anti)heroes in the prose of William Trevor based on the novel Felicia’s Journey (1994). As a standard-bearer of new realism in the contemporary Irish and British literature, William Trevor writes novels, novellas, and short stories with humanised characters, which he builds using the mimetic literary method, shapes by psychological descrip- tion, and evaluates according to the criteria of believability. As a Protestant in the Catholic Ireland, an Irishman in England and a countryman in London, the author forges his characters on the front line of the archetypal battle between the good and the evil in man and nature, Ireland and England, the country and the city, the old- world religiousness and the new-world loss of faith. The startling plight of all Trevor’s antiheroes (marginalised, atomised and alienated) initiates their introspective evalu- ation until the cathartic self-awareness is achieved through personal epiphany. The most striking character transformations occur on life’s by-paths which irreversibly lead from virtue to sin, from innocence to experience, from the collective and general to the individual and personal. However, the characters’ epiphanic self-awareness is always and exclusively paid by happiness, the loss of which poses the underlying atmosphere, tone, colour, and leitmotif of each and every Trevor’s literary work.

Місія університету в західноєвропейській культурі (етичні та соціологічні аспекти) Ч. ІІ.

The paper by Sergiy Kurbatov and Mariya Rohozha “The Mission of University in the Western European Culture”(Part II) is devoted to the analyses of transformation of the university as social institution and cultural phenomenon in our time, which we started at the first part of this paper, that was published in “Philosophy of Education”, 2017, № 2 (21)). If the previous paper of these authors included a long chronological period from the origin of the university in late Medieval time up to the 20th century, the current paper is concentrated on analyses of radical challenges, that university faced at the end of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. For example, such popular in contemporary English language literature concept as the end (or the death) of university is observed. The authors tried to analyze sociological attempts to measure the main university activities in the form of international university rankings and the possibilities to develop in Ukraine the ideal models of university, which any system of university rankings have. The special stress was made on the influence of COVID 19 pandemic on transformative processes and institutional development of universities in the nearest future. The main challenges of the 21st century are crucial for the university, because this institution lost monopoly of producing and distribution of advanced knowledge for the first time in history. From the tactic viewpoint, university is less competitive than the different training programs and online courses, it is too conservative and bureaucratic one. But the authors think that in strategic perspective university has a chance for renovation, proving the old maxima that the values and spiritual dimensions of being and the relevant environment are crucial for human being. Almost the millennium of university history proves its ability to pass through the dramatic historical transformation and to continue to maintain its essence.

HISTORICAL MEASURES AND PHILOSOPHICAL FEATURES OF BRITISH POST-POSTOMODERNISM: OUTLINING THE CONCEPT OF «CONNECTEDNESS»

In the paper, the author states that in the UK the emergence of theoretical compendia that represent and simultaneously revise the literary landscape of this country (as well as the United States), determines the necessity to outline the boundaries of the period, which in these works is defined as post-postmodernism. The latter concept has no clear theoretical explication and is discussed in the form of literary directions (altermodernism, digimodernism, metamodernism) that define new aesthetic and philosophical grounds that differ from postmodernism. In the paper, the author substantiates the historical boundaries of post-postmodernism, in particular emphasizing the factors that led to the formation of a new literary paradigm after 2000s. The ideas of British theorists on «realisms» in contemporary British literature have been developed with the emphasis on the presentation of new worldview models and identities in the contemporary British novels. A review of «The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction» (edited by D. O’Gorman and R. Eaglestone) is represented, which gives a condensed view of the aesthetic and philosophical pursuits of the contemporary British novel. The transformation of the archetype of Home in the paradigm of the contemporary (postpostmodern) novel has been spotlighted. Attention is drawn to explaining the representation of «one’s own» and «another’s» («alien») concepts, which reconstructs the traditional idea of Home as a space of protection and security. The transcultural processes inherent in the British novel have been discussed. The new character of the worldview (based on the materials of the novels by D. Mitchell and M. Haddon) has been outlined, which gives reason to speak abouta special postpostmodern way of observing the reality and provide its interpretations. The outline of the corpus of epistemological problems in the contemporary British novel actualizes the experience of philosophy of I. Kant, which is emphasized primarily by British theorists, referring in their own interpretative models to this tradition of German classical philosophy, which becomes important for the post-postmodern novels since 2000s.

The Mysterious Talent

The article studies giftedness and talent representation in contemporary British literature by means of analysing three novels: “When We Were Orphans” by Kazuo Ishiguro, “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield and “Milton in America” by Peter Ackroyd. The topic of giftedness appears in these works as part of the genre and form game, which is an important immanent property of postmodern literature. The plots and themes are reconsidered and played with like a set of toy building blocks used to construct a new building that makes sense only in the context of the already existing constructions. The paper shows that the concept of giftedness appears in contemporary British novels mainly as part of a game of parody, which reflects the idea of the world as imagery and confusion.

Brexit literature’s present absentees: Triangulating Brexit, anti-Semitism, and the Palestinian crisis

ABSTRACT This article addresses a blind spot in Brexit literary criticism: Britain’s relationship to the Middle East, particularly its historic responsibility for the plight of Palestinians. Although fiction that directly engages both Brexit and the Israeli–Palestinian crisis has not yet appeared, oblique connections can be illuminated. Shared conceptual fields, albeit ones only partially brought into view in contemporary British fiction, emerge from intersecting historical experiences. The article considers a range of recent literary texts, with an emphasis on A Stranger City (2019) by British Jewish author Linda Grant and Fractured Destinies: A Novel (2018) by British Palestinian author Raba’i al-Madhoun. When viewed in a certain light, Brexit motifs of enclosure, displacement, and propinquity limn the Palestinian crisis as well as the spectre of anti-Semitism, revealing Britain’s role in the shaping of the modern Middle East as part of contemporary British literature’s political unconscious.